Centering Students’ and Families’ Experience
YouthTruth Surveys, Workshops Help Guide Improvements
Each January, SCOE’s School Culture & Partnerships team helps nearly all of Sonoma County’s public school districts survey students, families, and staff about their school experience. The
results of these anonymous surveys, conducted in partnership with national nonprofit YouthTruth, help schools formulate their state-mandated educational plans and identify other areas for improvement at their campuses. SCOE staff work with schools to encourage survey participation, interpret the results, and develop plans and follow-through to address the results.
Last spring, SCOE began holding workshops directly with students from participating school districts, to empower and encourage them to help their schools take action based on their school results.
To learn more about the survey effort, and view aggregated, countywide survey results from this year’s implementation, visit scoe.org/youthtruth.
YouthTruth Impact by the Numbers
Response Rates in Parentheses
14,227 Elementary Students (97%)
9,922 Middle School Students (95%)
15,246 High School Students (81%)
39,395 Total Students
9,071 Elementary School Parents/Guardians (38%)
2,148 Middle School Parents/Guardians (27%)
3,877 High School Parents/Guardians (20%)
15,096 Total Family Response
2025-26 School Year Data
2,726 Elementary School Staff (74%)
629 Middle School Staff (77%)
1,339 High School Staff (68%)
4,694 Total Staff
Creating a Culture of Belonging
How Students’ Well-Being Connects to Safety, Achievement
Years of YouthTruth data and other research have shown that schools where students report feeling like they belong and that their identities are celebrated and protected also report higher levels of engagement with academics and stronger educational outcomes. SCOE’s School Culture & Partnerships division focuses on improving campus safety and culture and includes SCOE’s Behavioral Health & Well-Being department. It works to standardize and strengthen emergency response, foster positive school climate, and assist schools.
Addressing Bullying Head-On
Clear Policies Provide Transparency, Build Trust
In surveys and interviews, Sonoma County students regularly say that the schools that best address bullying do so with strong policies that clearly outline what behaviors constitute bullying and the disciplinary consequences that students who bully their peers will face. When such guidelines are enforced consistently and fairly, students report greater perceptions of safety and engagement with their academics. To help schools create nurturing environments for learning where students know that bullying will not be tolerated, SCOE’s school safety team has developed a model anti-bullying policy with a disciplinary matrix that schools can adopt or use as a starting point to create their own.
Intervening When a Student May Be a Danger
What are Behavioral Threat Assessments?
Sometimes a student’s behaviors at school, at home, or in the community can cause the adults in their life to worry they may be a danger to themselves or their school community. Inspired by a successful model from San Mateo County, SCOE has brought together a team that includes representatives from schools, as well as county-level agencies such as the Sheriff’s Office, Probation Department, Department of Health Services, Human Services Department, and Child Protective Services. When there is a concern about an individual student, these representatives can convene, meet with the adults in that child’s life, evaluate whether the student’s behaviors pose a danger, and refer that student and their family to mental health supports or other community resources before a crisis occurs.
Behind every threat or act of violence at a school is one or more troubled young people who desperately need help.
– Dr. Amie Carter, Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools
How Schools Can Connect Families to Resources
What is a ‘Community School’?
Schools aren’t just centers for learning. They often serve as valued neighborhood and community hubs, meeting places, and centers of connection. For many families, they are an essential source of nutrition, internet access, mental health support, and information. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted how schools were taking on much more than academics.
In recognition of public schools’ ability to serve as resource hubs for families, the state launched the California Community Schools Partnership Program in 2022. This multi-billion dollar effort encourages the establishment of community schools. These campuses provide support for children and families by integrating health care, mental health services, and other community supports directly into school campuses. The effort prioritizes removing barriers that can prevent low-income families from being able to access essential services.
At Guerneville School, for example, a partnership with West County Health Center allows health professionals to serve students and their families during the school day, Mondays through Thursday. SCOE supports such efforts by assisting local school districts with strategic planning, establishing partnerships with community organizations, securing contracts, meeting grant reporting requirements, and comparing notes on implementation with other districts.
Building Our Mental Health Capacity
Securing Funding for Services During a Challenging Time
During and shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic, state leaders allocated additional funding to support student mental health through one-time grants. But with most of those grant programs having ended and budgets tightening, many schools are now laying off mental health providers that families have come to rely on.
To help preserve some funding for mental health services, SCOE has collaborated with state and local partners to train school officials on billing insurers for mental health services, thanks to a 2024 law called the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative.
Sonoma County schools implementing the community schools model include:
- Abraham Lincoln Elementary
- El Verano Elementary
- Guerneville Elementary
- Helen Lehman Elementary
- James Monroe Elementary
- John Reed Elementary
- Luther Burbank Elementary
- McDowell Elementary
- Roseland Accelerated Middle School
- Roseland Collegiate Prep
- Roseland University Prep
For this initiative to capture as much funding as possible for student mental health services, families must share their insurance information and consent for billing with their students’ schools. This new opportunity allows families to consent to have their insurance billed without costing them any money. There are no fees. In addition, students who access services through school are not prevented from seeing a provider through their health network. More widespread adoption by families can help create and support programs for the wider student body, not just one-on-one counseling for select students.
Direct Service to Students and Families
How to Connect Your Student to Mental Health Support
When a child needs mental health support, it can be confusing for families to navigate Sonoma County’s complex network of school-based resources, health care providers, and community organizations. That’s why SCOE operates a help line, available in English or Spanish, to support families in the moment and connect them with mental health resources. Families can call 707-522-3241 to be connected with a mental health provider from our Behavioral Health & Well-Being department. This number is NOT a crisis line. If a child is experiencing a mental health crisis that requires urgent care, call 911 to be connected with support immediately.
Interns Provide Vital Services
Long-Running Program Serves Range of Needs
SCOE manages a team of interns who provide direct service to students. These emerging clinicians have completed required coursework to become mental health professionals, but to receive their professional licenses they must work for a set number of hours under the supervision of a licensed clinician. With its emphasis on equity and recruiting bilingual, bicultural professionals, the program aligns with SCOE’s values to build a diverse educational workforce, promote working in schools to emerging mental health professionals, and increase student access to services.
Workshops for Families Difficult Topics from Substance Abuse to Cyberbullying To support families countywide, SCOE offers a series of free workshops in English and Spanish hosted by Behavioral Health & Well-Being staff and community partners. In 2025-26, workshops provided suicide prevention training; educated families about anxiety, depression, and substance abuse; and covered how to keep children safe online, among other topics. To learn more about these workshops, and access a survey about future family offerings visit scoe.org/mhw.